


Steel Hiding Silk

by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Canon, Canon Compliant, F/M, Kaiora, Sokai, Working off of some things that we know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10042133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER/pseuds/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: Set some time during Kingdom Hearts III. Sora and Kairi are on a mission in Twilight Town, to try and find a way to protect that world more, and while Kairi’s doing better than ever in her fighting… Sora can’t shake the feeling she might try and sacrifice herself for the greater good And what’s this about her thinking herself weak? Definite SoKai, but nothing too ship crazy.





	1. Steel Hiding Silk

There were so many great things about Kairi, in Sora’s opinion.

For instance, she had just stared the old mansion down with such strength, that Hayner, Pence, and Olette had been inspired to do the same thing alongside her—as the three of them found a strange kind of resolve that way.

And this was a good thing, because Sora and Kairi were going to ask the trio to hold down the fort once again. 

But this time… there was a possibility that the Twilight Town gang would have to do more than watch.

The other Lights were convinced that the new Organization would be sending Nobodies through the shabby mansion, after all.

And so that meant the town would have to do its best to defend itself, and fight against that threat—on the off-chance a wielder couldn’t be there some of the times that it happened. And Roxas’ friends seemed to be the best candidates for that job.

"I almost think I should stay and guard this place full-time, and keep my friends safe that way," Kairi ended up saying the moment Sora put his hand in her own.

He had decided to be friendly with his bestie, when he’d thought there wasn’t much else they could do for the day—and that they should probably get home, since it was becoming dark out—but now Sora wasn’t so sure about that sentiment.

But to play the tense situation off some, Sora laughed a bit—as he and Kairi began walking back towards the forest—and said, "But we need you, Kairi... You’re one of the Seven Lights. So if the X-Blade is forged with us—even though I really have no idea about how any of it works…—we might need you to make sure it ends up in a good guy’s hands. That means we can't risk ya missing the fight!"

There was something in Kairi's eyes while Sora had said all of this, that he wasn't sure he liked: 

It was sort of the expression Roxas had worn when he'd told Sora that "it had to be him".

And frowning slightly at that, as he squeezed her palm, Sora pondered the traitorous thought of: Does that mean you’re going to end up sacrificing yourself for the greater good, Kairi, like Roxas did- did for me?

And as much as Sora wanted to ask Kairi just that—as he saw the first swarm of bees leave one of their trees in the wood in this summer heat—he also didn't want to tip her off that he'd found out her possible plan just yet.

Deciding to change the subject from the X-Blade entirely, Sora ended up asking the obvious question they both had probably been thinking of—as Kairi began trying to weave around the wasps without getting stung. "What kind of weapons do you think we should get for Hayner and the guys? A pole with fishing lures attached to it, like that Vanille uses? Or-"

Kairi laughed. And it took every ounce of self-control that Sora had within him not to flush for the sound. 

…It was just that hearing her giggle like that reminded him of how she'd made the same pearly noise on her fourteenth birthday, when she had told him she was thinking of getting some hair extensions.

It was in understanding that Kairi had the voice of an angel then, that Sora had fallen in love with her at all.

But that thought was neither here nor there, so Sora slapped both of his cheeks to try and regain his focus.

"Sora, you finally opened up to the idea of letting me use my Keyblade, right? Don't you think we should afford our friends a similar luxury, and let them use swords?"

The Keyblade Master wanted to stand on his tiptoes and place an arm on the shorter Kairi's head, as he told her "no”—and teased her some that way—but just as he'd opened his mouth to begin the superior comment, Sniper Nobodies chose that moment to appear on the scene.

Already, one of their red lasers was even trained on Sora!

Without even having to think about it, the boy leapt into the air in front of his enemy and put his foot against the blast. He also summoned Kingdom Key just then, and swung it forward to dispatch the enemy before it could do much damage to him or anyone else in the area.

Kairi, meanwhile, had called Destiny's Embrace to hand.

And as her dress turned white, and her hair began to drift to blonde, Sora came to understand that she was channeling Naminé.

Many of the Snipers were deadly close to Kairi now…

But before Sora could start to panic, he saw the redhead begin to write in the air with her mystical blade.

Just as she did, all of the Nobodies seemed to become poisoned and explode into puffs of white smoke around them.

Finally landing on his feet, Sora pound his chest as he turned to face Kairi—feeling very much a proud instructor.

"I'm kind of surprised you wrote status ailment into their memories, Kairi. I know you usually prefer to just smack things. …Not that I'm complaining, though! I think Nobodies have the trick of making people sick in their arsenal now, so it was good of you to give them a taste of their own medicine!”

Sora said the last in having terrible flashbacks to some of the stuff certain Nightmares had done to him during his first Mark of Mastery exam.

"Umm… Don't thank me yet," Kairi whispered, as she moved to change her keychain. "I feel like we're going to have to fight even more soon.

"But I appreciate your vote of confidence, Sora. I wanted to show Naminé how much I still need her, and how important she is to me... so she doesn't get any ideas in her head, that it 'has to be me'—like you said Roxas did with you."

"Kairi..."

So had he been wrong before? Sora now wondered, as he stared his girlfriend down.

Was she not thinking of doing anything crazy, since she was saddened by what Roxas had done? And since she must have known that if she died, Naminé did, too?

Sora was about to give up the ghost—when it came to speculating about Kairi, and not telling her what was on his—but… 

But finally, he noticed the gummi ship flying above them and Master Yen Sid coming down the ladder. Presumably he was going to give them both the good news, that they could move onto more challenging worlds.

Talking to Kairi would have to wait…

But fortunately, Sora wouldn’t have to wait for long to do so.

...

Sora and Kairi ended up going back to The Mysterious Tower so that they could get a good night's sleep before setting out again:

Sora himself would be going back to being on Donald and Goofy’s team, after having temporarily left them when they got back from the Coliseum. And Kairi would be going with Lea to Radiant Garden on a mystery errand.

Knowing that if he was going to get things straightened out with her that this was probably his last chance to do so, Sora found Kairi sitting on one of the wizard's lower cabinets in his kitchen—and her toes were even reached up towards the microwave, where she was now leaned back and trying to punch in numbers with them.

"Do you have a death wish, Kairi?" Sora questioned, chuckling, in entering the room. "I don't think Master Yen Sid will take too kindly to you treating his furniture like this."

The redhead blushed. And it was surprising to Sora, because Kairi wasn’t one to get easily embarrassed at all. …Just what was on her mind?

"I'm sorry, Sora. It's just I'm really tired after training, and the stuff that we did in Twilight Town today. I need food... but punching in the time this way is the only way I know how to get the numbers in right now... Because I feel my wrists are going to fall off in pain for how I've been using them lately.”

"How about you let me cook for you then, Kairi?" Sora beamed in asking this question, and he leaned against said counters and stepped forward to hold Kairi’s hands in his own.

Sora had meant his touching of Kairi right now to be platonic—because at the end of the day, they were best friends more than anything else: even if Sora thought that the paopu drawing probably meant he'd always have a date to the dance now and things like that—but it ended up being surprisingly intimate.

Words about love—that he wasn't even sure he completely understood yet—rested on his lips, waiting to be said, but the teen held them back.

And via some interesting circumstances, Sora ended up being able to heat Kairi's hot dog up without having to let go of her hand once. But he didn't know if still holding onto her now was a good or bad thing.

"Sora?" she demanded, as she hopped down beside him and stopped their arms from being held at the unnatural angles that they had just been in. "If you keep this up, you're going to make it so you can’t hold a weapon anymore. What's-"

"Kairi, please don't sacrifice yourself."

"What? What are you saying? Why would'ju even think I'd do that?" Though Sora could see Kairi very much react to his words, she was faced away from him as she did it.

…Sora was glad for it, because he didn’t know if he would’ve been able to take the emotions flickering across her face if he’d seen them.

He really didn't know how to go about engaging with Kairi’s outraged reaction, either, Sora instead temporarily turned his attention to the room he was in:

A lot of pink tile had been added to the rustic space, which struck Sora as odd for his teacher. So he tried to figure out if Mickey had inspired him to decorate that way because of Wonderland?

"But seriously, Sora: why would you ask me that? I don't understand."

Kairi was cutting up her hotdog on a plate, and dipping said food into mustard now—so apparently she wasn’t as bothered by his callousness as Sora had thought she had been, if she had acted to get these materials while he’d been distracted.

There were a few times that she winced, as she maneuvered her fork around, but for the most part the princess pressed on like a trooper.

And Sora just noticed that Kairi was now eating pretty viciously, to make it seem like she was angrily waiting for his answer with a laser pointed at him.

She'd always been good at this kind of thing…

In fact, Sora remembered one time when they were kids... he had put on a crown, and began acting like a king on the playground, and all his peers had wondered who he thought he was to do that.

But Kairi had sidetracked them all by poking said crown—and thus making everyone notice it was shiny... but still made out of Styrofoam for some reason, so why should they have been getting mad at Sora being the king of that?

And so Sora had stopped being made fun of because of her.

"I don't- I don't know, Kairi," Sora finally answered Kairi’s question with a hung head, as he resisted the urge to steal a bite of her meal. He was quite hungry himself; and him stealing her favorite treats was just the norm for them. "I just got that impression that you might be thinking that way? Maybe you’ll do something for your fellow Princesses of Heart, like I would for any human being... Or even just one of my Dream Eaters, and I-"

"I'm not going to do that, Sora," Kairi stated, getting so close to Sora now, that their lips almost touched—to maybe try and comfort him some that way? Sora thought—before she pulled away. "I'm sure you can tell, but I like to live. So- so letting myself be struck down isn't something I'm actively going to try and do."

Suddenly, Sora couldn't help but to notice that this was the most serious discussion he and Kairi had ever had with each other.

They'd tiptoed around other dramatic matters in the past… Like when he had had that scary dream and Kairi had just waved it off.

Though she had ended up slapping him upside the head just to silence him, so maybe that entire exchange was darker than he’d been thinking initially.

There was also when Kairi had forgotten his name—and though Sora had enjoyed that with her some... he'd actually felt crushed by it some, and had tried to hide it.

And now? Now the two of them were having a blatant conversation about painful things, and almost accusing each other, and Sora wondered what it would mean for them and their relationship with each other.

"Does this mean you're going to start talking intelligently all of the time, Kairi, and basically become Riku Two?"

Kairi nudged Sora with her elbow then, while he came up to sit beside her again, and he grinned as broadly as he had when Jiminy had told him he'd make a note in his Journal that said “Thank Naminé.

"Of course not, Sora,” Kairi replied with a roll of her eyes, in an oh so very fiery way. “Riku's still got the monopoly on that, I mean. And to be quite honest... I still don't really know how strong I am, to really be able to pull ‘being Riku’ off. Even if I wanted to. Today I did a spell that Naminé would be proud of… but now I'm dealing with failing limbs, like a weakling. And so I really have no idea how well I'd do in helping those kids from Twilight Town at all."

Kairi was being down on her self now—as she shrugged her shoulders and grimaced—and it was something Sora had never really seen from her before… and it almost made him sick.

Kairi had gone back to sitting directly beneath the microwave now—her feet were swinging to and fro in the air—and Sora leaned his head against the ginger’s shoulder to try and make her feel better.

"You are strong, Kairi. You always have been. And I know that in the end… you'll remain that way and make the right decisions. Even if I have to put a Styrofoam crown on your head to give you some confidence."

Kairi just curled up closer to Sora at that—with a fist held over her heart, and a stern look upon her face.

But this time tears didn't fall from her, like they almost had when she’d eyed Ansem Seeker of Darkness down with a similar look.

So through just that, Kairi was proving Sora right even now—and he couldn't have been more proud of her for it.

He- he loved this girl:

With her steel hiding silk, and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written because the II.8 credits have made me fall head-over-heels in love with SoKai again, and so I had to do something for them.
> 
> There will probably be a part two to this, though, because I don’t exactly know how I feel about Kairi here?
> 
> Usually I make Kairi uber strong, but I’ve come to realize that maybe I make her OOC that way. So now I’m trying to make her weaker… though I almost feel like I made her too weak here, and I also don’t want that. Which is why there might be a part two to this, that hopefully balances that out more.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Read and review, please! Thanks a bunch!


	2. Silk Hiding Steel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter. And it’s based on Wall-E’s world, but only ever so slightly. Mainly because I only ever saw the movie once, and I didn’t set out to write my version of that world in Kingdom Hearts III with this, or anything like that.
> 
> Also, there’s an OC in this chapter. I hope you guys like him:) …And a teeny-tiny bit of Christianity stuff (that somehow found its way into here), but nothing too major.
> 
> And I mentioned “Percy Jackson”, because Disney owns the books. So, technically, they could possibly be in Kingdom Hearts.
> 
> There’s also a mention of “Divergent”, which admittedly, I probably shouldn’t have had. But I thought I could get away with it, because Wall-E’s world is mostly based on a futuristic America, right? And “Divergent” is a movie that we Americans have had in our “past”. XD

**Kairi’s PoV**

“Have you ever wondered… about the Keyblade’s jagged teeth?” Sora was asking Kairi one day.

She blinked in surprise—wondering what had brought up the topic, but unable to hold back her answer, either. “I have thought about it in the past,” Kairi answered—sitting down on the white ground beneath them, with her knees brought up to her chest and her hand cradling her chin. 

It was a very interesting world that they had come to now, with all the alabaster everywhere, and it reminded her a lot of Castle Oblivion and the Castle That Never Was.  
  
“I’ve only recently gotten Naminé’s memories from Castle Oblivion, but some of these weapons remind her of- of Larxene’s kunai, and I have to say I agree with that sentiment. It almost even looks like we could do… more damage to our enemies, with these weapons being so elaborate and not just having a simple blade. But why bring it up, Sora?”

  
The Keyblade Master sat down beside Kairi now, though he seemed reluctant to do even that—for which Kairi raised an eyebrow at him—but as he finally curled up beside her, Kairi got the answer she’d already begun to guess:  
  
“Because the people of this world have gotten so lazy, they can’t do anything. They just let everything be done _for_ them, through the robots they created. And it’s that kinda thinking that destroyed their first world.   
  
"But maybe- maybe if we could show them how cool work can be, they’ll see the error of their ways, get better, and try to forge a Keyblade with their own hands, or something!”  
  
Sora was standing now—and he had his arms held out to his sides, in an excited manner.  
  
And even in simply doing that, he was acting much more than anyone here ever seemed to do—something that Kairi thought Sora was doing on purpose, and she almost wanted to join in on it.

Peeking an eye open, for she had closed them both a moment ago, Kairi asked with a smile, “ What? Like tricky-shaped Keyblades with ornamentation?”  
  
Sora was nodding before Kairi even finished her question, and as she moved to get up.  
  
Sora was gesturing so animatedly now, that Kairi could tell this subject meant a lot to him.

“Just tell me why we’re doing this, Sora. We really have no reason to be. The Key to Return Hearts isn’t here, and if you want to meddle… Why not do so where that awful Cruella is after those puppies?”  
  
Sora opened his mouth to answer, but then seemed to think better of whatever he’d been about to say.  
  
But deciding that she really didn’t need this to be dignified—or a reason to help people—she summoned Metal Chocobo to her hand—and came up with a game plan for the boy who had called forth Lady Luck, of all things!  
  
“If we’re going to convince them to change, we need to show them that their cushy chairs here aren’t all there is. We can place this blade here against their legs or arms, and show them that it feels _good_. Hopefully, then, it won’t be too big a jump for them then to realize manual labor itself is good.  
  
"And Sora, put Lady Luck down: it’s made of soft materials, which are exactly the kind we _don’t_ need right now.”

And so the two of them set forth to try and right this world’s wrongs, and to give the people of it a fighting chance.

“I never thought I would say this, Sora,” Kairi said—as the two of them held hands and walked through the city, while the people all around them gave them off-putting looks. “But I feel like we’re going to have to go against the World Order to really help out here. Maybe if we tell them what’s at stake—and that Xehanort might come here: a person who their machines could never predict or stop—they’ll be more willing to try and do something.”  
  
Kairi’s words surprised even herself: she was a Princess of Heart, so she should have been all about following the rules… and yet she couldn’t come up with a better solution, than the one she had just uttered.  
  
“I dunno about that, Kairi,” Sora stated, as he put his hands behind his head and offered her a small smile. “I mean, I _guess_ we could try it, if we can’t think of anything else, but I really don’t want Yen Sid chewing me out again.”  
  
Kairi frowned.

She hadn’t been there when that had happened to Sora. And he hadn’t told her much about it at all, but she had heard all about the horror stories from Donald and Goofy and it made her sad.

But thankfully, Sora didn’t seem to be focusing on that just now.  
  
Instead, he pulled her forward with a grin on his face, and Kairi saw that—despite everything—Sora had an idea for a short date with her now.  
  
“I know we’re s’psed to be swaying people away from these moving sidewalks—or really doing anything, to get them to have better lifestyles—but what do you say about us going on one together, just once?”  
  
And they were almost standing on one of the aforementioned “walkways” now.   
  
Kairi saw the sidewalk beside her keeping pace with her strides.

The redhead was just about to tell Sora that maybe they could use those, to try and scare the obese town away from their inactiveness—in showing them how their pant legs could get caught in one of the devices, if they weren’t careful—but Sora seemed to have other thoughts on his mind at the moment.  
  
The next time Kairi saw him, he was standing on the moving piece of pavement—that really was somewhat their enemy here, wasn’t it?—and seeming to have the time of his life.  
  
He came past Kairi, and suddenly she was snagged into the air by his arms and standing right beside him.  
  
Kairi was beginning to feel dizzy—so she meant to complain about it, even though she _was_ somewhat enjoying herself, maybe–but then Kairi felt Sora’s lips on her own.  
  
And she leaned into them happily—and wrapped her arms around his neck, tugging his upper lip with her bottom one just a little bit—as they started going up the incline.  
…  
“Okay, we really need to buckle down now and get to work,” Sora said with slight guilt in his voice, after the two of them downed their sodas—the thing they had gone to get, feeling giddy, after their impromptu kiss—and saw one kid in particular who seemed like he didn’t want to get out of his seat.  
  
It made Kairi heartbroken to see him, because he wasn’t as… big as the others were. And there was so much hope for his future! …But Kairi didn’t know if he’d even get to see it, because these people had brainwashed him.  
  
“Hey…” the blond said, as he looked up at Sora and Kairi. “Why are you standing up when you could choose not to be, and how are you… so thin?“  
  
 _Because this is the way it’s meant to be, dear, and I’m going to save you if it’s the last thing I do,_ Kairi thought, but didn’t say.  
  
And instead of speaking, she found herself praying that old romance books were still a thing in this land, and that this kid would be moved by the idea of them, despite being young.  
  
"Because it allows for things like this,” Kairi explained, as she started running in circles around Sora…  
  
Who, in a confused manner, tried to dodge her—and Kairi couldn’t blame him for it, for she had smacked him upside the head and things before—but eventually she caught her boyfriend, and was able to pepper kisses onto his cheek.  
  
Kairi turned back to the child with a beaming expression on her face, hoping they would understand.  
  
Sora, meanwhile, held a hand to his cheek. And it was clear to Kairi that he thought when they kissed a second ago, it had been a fluke. And that she really didn’t like him. But now she had just proved that she did, and Sora seemed at a loss, as he blushed madly.

“Kairi…”

“But isn’t that too tiring?” The boy in the blue hat asked—as he sat forward in his hover throne, to try and see her and Sora better, Kairi thought, but even that seemed to be too hard for him.  
  
But when he eyed the white pristine walls around him, and nodded to himself in seeing them, he seemed to decide they meant that he was right.

White could only ever be correct, after all—or so people believed—and that was the colors the makers of this prison had made it.

“Forget all the romance stuff, then,” Sora interrupted Kairi’s thought as he slumped down, hung his head, and opened his hands just beneath his knees. “Do you know your hat was made from something called a kite, kid? If you know about it- don’t you want to get out and try flying it?  
  
"And more importantly… this world is possibly in danger. You guys have to be active if you ever hope to stop Xehanort, should he come here. And if you did that, or at least tried, you could be labeled a hero, and-”  
  
Kairi didn’t know which part of Sora’s speech ended up inspiring the youth, but something clearly did—as he began trying to sit up straighter.

Sora had broken the World Order much more than Kairi had insisted on that they should earlier, but she supposed it was okay.

“So what you’re saying…” the kid said, “is that we need to have some sort of protest?” He seemed delighted by the idea to Kairi, and the princess tried to decide if maybe this was one of the worlds that had ended up the way it did _because_ of protests in the past.

Usually, Kairi was all for that kind of thing—she often went against what Sora and Riku wanted for her safety, didn’t she?—but now she wasn’t so sure…

“Yeah…” Sora nodded, as he went behind the boy with his arms spread out—so Nate (that’s what Kairi now read his name was, through a nametag on his shirt) could fall back into them, if he tried to get up and fell. “That’s what Kai means. But if you’re going to try and do that, you need to learn how to stand for a long time first. Alright? I assume you play video games?

“Well, have you ever held your hand up on a controller similarly to what Kairi and my legs are doing now? Well, we need you to try and do the same thing your feet. Just know it’ll be harder than maneuvering your hands. All of your weight will be in your bottom limbs… And think of what it’s like to carry something in your palm, but this will be _much_ tougher.”

Despite Sora’s cautionary tale, Nate was clearly trying now. And he even clapped his hands together in glee, when he noticed this about himself.  
  
Sora, seemingly feeling really good—and Kairi could hardly blame him for that—crossed his arms over his chest and nearly echoed something Mickey had said in the past. “Kingdom Hearts: it must have blessed him now. It wants Nate here to lead his people out of this weird darkness.”  
  
And squeezing Sora’s hand in her own, Kairi found that she could only agree when Nate stood up successfully—though he did end up teetering very easily—and Kairi noted that he’d been sitting on a magazine the entire time.

Nate… Did he want to be a reporter?!

…

Nate ended up deciding to have a press event the very next day—to try and remind his people in the best way that he knew how, that rallying and stuff, in the past, _was_ exactly the way they had come to be where they were now.

And he even decided that he wanted to now break into the broadcast network, to make the announcement about it himself.

Kairi was all for the boy turning his life around, but she knew that there was no way she was going to let him go all out on this stuff alone, and so the princess and her Keyblade wielder ended up sneaking into the capitol building at night.

…It wasn’t as difficult as Kairi had thought it might be, from years of reading books:

The three of them just waited until nightfall, walked up to the institution, and then she and Sora turned their Keyblades into gliders to get over the fence (Nate rode with Sora—so that Kairi could feel the wind whipping against her face better; and how she savored the feeling of that iciness now!), which she loved.

Then, it was just opening up a window and sneaking in.

 And Kairi carried Nate in before Sora could protest:

She knew that _one_ of them would have to pick up the boy, after all, as he was still learning to walk consistently; and Kairi had decided that it might as well have been her. She _did_ still enjoy being reckless.

And besides… this way, Kairi made sure she rolled into a large marshmallow—when they eventually fell into the classroom-like area—and Kairi was certain that the kid was more than happy to be holding _her_.

For really coming to like the boy and his kindness, Kairi may or may not have even ended up putting her Keyblade in Nate’s hand for an instant—on the off-chance that fate maybe wanted to intervene, and see the act as a bequeathing ceremony for him.

**Sora’s PoV**

**A Little While Later**

Sora listened intently to everything that Nate was now saying to the citizenry, with much emphasis in his voice.

…He wanted to make sure that he and Kairi were doing this breaking and entering stuff for good reason, of course, and that they could trust Nate.

The closest thing Sora had ever done to this in any other world, was romanticizing pirates in Port Royal. But he supposed this would end up being okay, like that had.

“Lightning has struck, is all I’m saying,” Nate insisted, as he put his cap back on his head and smiled into the microphone that he was using. "Tomorrow will be the best and most important days of your life, so join me.”  
  
All of those words sounded _perfect_ to Sora, now that he thought about it. No need to worry at all!

So he chose to ignore Nate and Kairi for the moment—but he _did_ still note that the aforementioned redhead was continuing to sit right beside Nate, and was squeezing his shoulder in encouragement—and walked over to a desk with a presentation made out of cardboard sitting on top of it.

There were papers and ribbons right in front of the display, and the Keyblade Master felt less as though he was in some pristine Dystopian future, and more like he was at some school fair where Riku had won the gold star again.  
  
Also on the table—so close to the edge of it, that Sora was surprised it didn’t fall right off—was a TV.  
  
It was playing some sort of movie… where playing Paint Ball looked like it had gone all kinds of wrong (as it seemed like the kids that were getting hit with them were all actually being touched by the “bullets” that Sora had seen through Clayton, back on Tarzan’s world?); and a piece of tape attached to the bottom of the television had the word “Divergent written on it.

Was that the name of the film? Or-

And Kairi looked quite a bit interested in it herself now, Sora observed.

After assuring Nate that he was doing exceptionally—and to keep eye contact with the camera, while he ever so slightly danced, and showed how fun it could be—Kairi wandered over, and started paying strong attention to the live-action show.

And as she summoned Destiny’s Embrace in hand, Sora imagined she wanted to smack the one guy in the movie in the _face_ with it, and he would’ve been all for her doing it.

Sora was even about to tell Kairi as much, but then something else caught his attention: It was also sitting on Sora’s new favorite table, and it was the biggest book he’d ever seen.

Curious, despite himself, Sora picked it up and began leafing through it—wondering how any one person could talk so much—but didn’t get a lot of it, and only read a few chapters.

The tome had a certain power to it, that Sora couldn’t explain, but it seemed to be about this "God” figure he’d heard about a bit in the Camp Half-Blood world. He decided he’d file it away for later.  
  
Yawning, Sora put the book down and said his piece. “Nate, I want you to know you inspired me a _while_ ago; and now I’m even more awestruck about you… but save some of it for tomorrow—so the folks still have something to go to, and we can try and goad them to stand _that_ way.”  
  
And after the unlikely trio realized they were pretty much sleepwalking at this point (even the eager Nate), they left, headed for an inn, and chose to fight their last battle in just a few hours.

…

Though Sora hadn’t doubted Nate for an instance, the assembly the next day ended up going about as well as Sora’s deepest fears had thought it would:

Which was to say that it was going _horribly_.

An impressive crowd _had_ gathered around the trinity—as they stood on the capitol stairs and tried to reason with everyone—but those gathered were spouting vitriol more than anything, as they all floated in the air.

More than once, a few people threw a banana peel Kairi’s way. And Sora became so livid for it, that he had to resist the urge to summon his Keyblade and yell at them, while waving the weapon around.

“Well, _this_ is going well,” Sora said with a roll of his eyes, as he stated the obvious and whispered to Kairi conspiringly.

Nate—bless the boy, Sora thought—actually hadn’t lost faith at all, as he stood just behind them.

And he actually began trying to do flips in the air—that Sora _was_ impressed by—but he discreetly used some Aero magic to make sure the kid didn’t fall and crack his head open on the ground.

Some kids Nate’s age actually became inspired to try and do the same maneuver, after he did it—and this time it was _Kairi_ using more Gravity spells than he’d ever seen anyone use at once, to keep them safe—and so it looked like they had won the children over.

Sora breathed a sigh of relief for that—and was about to give up, and hope that maybe they would teach their own kids better, or something, and have a better future _that_ way—because now people were leaving, and parents were angrily marching off with their offspring…

But just then, Sora saw a portal being opened!

Initially, he would’ve thought it was maybe Skuld come to find them—because that girl was good at opening Corridors of Light, like the one Sora was seeing now—but it didn’t turn out to be her at all!

Instead, Sora thought he spied the Fairy Godmother’s wand poking out of the corridor—before it began to close again—and then a monster truck-like robot came rolling out of it, and found its way right into Sora’s arms!

One man who saw it was making even _more_ of an uproar now, and Sora couldn’t at _all_ understand why: The little guy, with his goggle eyes, looked cute enough to _him_.

But then the little guy opened up one of his compartments, where paintball after paintball seemed to be located, and began chucking them at _everybody_.

Sora had never laughed so _hard_! This was great! And maybe exactly what they needed!

Nate, for his part, began kicking some of the ones that came him and his friends’ way back towards the audience.

And Kairi was putting her hair back now—to keep it from getting dirtied—but she seemed to be having fun, in trying to smack some of the spherical items out of her way, like they were volleyballs.

What did Sora do? He just moved the strange creature he was holding around in a wide arc, so that everyone got caught in the sport.

And if some paintballs just fell from the critter—and didn’t get to go flying like they’d been meant to—Kairi would pick them up, and hurtle them at people _for_ Sora.

He didn’t think he’d ever loved her so much, as he did now.

There were those who weren’t having a positive experience with this all, of course, and who sat on the ground cross-legged—with their arms over their chests—after they had fallen down.

But then someone who had actually found something to love with this, would offer them a hand and help them up.

And ever so slightly, those Debbie Downers would enter the fray of the battle without even realizing they were betraying all that they had believed in!

It went on and on like this for a long time. And at one point, Sora found the little robot nudging him to look up—and he saw the sun appearing beautifully out of the clouds just above them, and found himself thinking about that novel-length book he’d been looking at earlier…

Finally, sensing that he had won his entire world over, Nate began running up the stairs to the podium—Kairi gleefully going with him as he did, to make sure he didn’t slip on the paint everywhere, Sora could tell—and he gave the speech he had seemed to want to all along:

“My friends: the way we acted just now is the way we were always born to! And something wonderful it was, indeed! So on the morrow, don’t let us go back to the way we were before! But rather, let us stay in this new pastime we’ve found—if not doing more!—to be ready to combat the threat my friends have warned us will come!”

The crowd cheered loudly at this. And Kairi was laughing so hard for it, that she almost resembled a drunk—but Sora figured that he was probably much the same way, to be honest.

Almost in some sort of trance, Sora found himself agreeing with Kairi, as she urged Nate to go to a book store—so that people could meet up with and talk with him there, while also getting something to eat.

Sora agreed with this, and may or may not have encouragingly slapped Nate on the back more times than he could remember—who ever _would’ve_ thought they could accomplish such a miracle as all this? Sora thought with a gasp—but mostly he found himself holding onto the little robot as long as he could, to try and commit it to memory, as he wanted to try and make one of his own when he got home…

And then the couple left the world, both feeling exhausted—and not even stopping to wash up and get all of the paint off of them—but knowing that they’d succeeded in what they’d set out to do.

If Xehanort stopped by, Nate would make sure his people kept their morale up, and were ready for him!

The genius was going to make a greater journalist someday; and Sora felt very proud for that fact—maybe even beginning to understand a bit what paternal love felt like with it.

Maybe.

…

“Sora?” Kairi asked eventually—as the both of them headed up Yen Sid’s stairs together, and to the boy’s temporary room, with their feet feeling like lead. “Why do you think all of those people decided to better themselves—and finally stop acting dumb—because of paint ball, of all things?”

Sora wanted to joke, that maybe it was because of the snippet of that movie they’d seen—where the paint balls had actually been blanks, so if you didn’t avoid them and get moving, you could _really_ get hurt—but he didn’t.  
  
Instead, as Sora and Kairi came to sit on the edge of his bed, the wielder found himself thinking in a way like Riku might once have. “Do you remember at Camp Half-Blood, when Leo Valdez said that maybe there’s a god with a big ‘G’, like based on some religions in his world?

“Well, maybe he’s right. And maybe He exists and made it so. 'specially since I read that some teen groups have used paint ball, to try and open minds to the possibility of this guy before. …But I don’t really know or understand any of this stuff. Just trying to piece it all together, is all.”

Honestly, Sora didn’t know why he was saying this—when did he ever take things from certain worlds so surely?—and yet he couldn’t help himself.

This time, it was Kairi’s turn to yawn—as she leaned her head on Sora’s shoulder and began to finally nod off from the long few days:

“It is a nice thought, isn’t it? That someone’s watching over us and protects us. Maybe that means this Seven versus Thirteen War won’t happen, after all. But I do think we should still try and stop it.”

Sora may have numbly nodded his head at that, but later he wouldn’t be able to remember if he did or not—for it was turning out that he was even more spent than _Kairi_ was.

They’d not be revealing the answer to any big questions on this night, Sora guessed, but that was okay:

He was just glad to relish in the one victory they had already had together, as they both toppled over and fell asleep.

And Sora found his hand resting on injured hands of Kairi’s, that she hadn’t complained about once in Wall-E’s world.

Silk hiding steel, she was.

And maybe he somewhat was that, too.

**The End**


End file.
